A Different way of talking
by Grey11893
Summary: There are far more ways of communication than just simply talking, Misato knows that and Shinji now has to figure that out for himself when the Pilot of Unit-02 becomes his roommate, since she chose to be mute after her mothers death.
1. Chapter 1

**A Different way of talking**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Evangelion. This is a simple, non-profit fanfic.

I had this idea in my head for a while and decided to get it out. So, here it is. Hope you enjoy...

**Chapter 1: Understanding...  
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'Momma, Momma!' shouted a young Asuka at the top of her lungs with a wide smile. She had just been told that she was going to be an Evangelion Pilot, and that this made her special, really special. Now she could finally get her mother to pay attention to her, show love to her and not to that stupid doll.

She rushed past the nurses and doctors, some who knew why she was here cast a sad look at her running form, her mother was mentally unstable and never really paid any attention to the poor girl who was desperate for someone to show care for her.

'Momma, Momma! Guess what I'm a…a...' the little girl goes silent. Horror etched onto her face, her mother was suspended from the light fixture by a piece of wire that was wrapped around her neck.

'M-momma?' the little girl said out loud, her eyes welling up into tears. Her mother had always been asking the little girl to come die with her (well, the doll at least) and now…she was all alone and that stupid doll just hung there with her mother, smiling at her, mocking her.

'She likes me better, you're nobody. I am special, not even your own mother cares about you, no one cares about you' the doll said, grinning at her, laughing at her loss.

As the tears ran down her face, Asuka promised herself that she would never breathe another word to anyone; she could handle herself without talking, no one needed to know what she was feeling or what she had seen. No one cared enough to ask anyway…

[Years later, aboard the Over the Rainbow…]

'That Pilot girl is kinda strange, huh?' a crew member asked his buddy.

'Yeah, never talks, but don't be eyeing her though, she'll make sure you end up in the medic's for a while' his buddy answered, remembering a dear friend that had been hoping to have children one day.

'Hey man, I ain't a pedophile, I was just asking 'cos she usually sticks herself to that guy…the shady one, what's-his-name'

'The UN inspector? Yeah, she seems to have some sort of crush on him'

'Too bad that's not with me; well, if she was a couple of years older'

'Haha, yeah. Good point'

A redheaded fourteen year old glared at the two perverts, but decided to not get herself confined to her room again for making some more seamen infertile. She left the room, tonight was the night, she was finally going to get Kaji to take her and make her a woman. This time Kaji wouldn't be able to resist her now, her body had grown in the right places and now she could finally get the man of her dreams to make her feel loved. She blushed at the thought of her and Kaji having some fun and bit her lower lip in anticipation, waiting was such a pain...

[Later that night…]

A sigh escaped from a man with a pony tail and an unshaven face, he needed a smoke, but what he really needed was some sleep. He unlocked the door to his room aboard the ship and entered, thinking it was rather strange that his room was dark, since he had left the lights on when he left.

A small click and the room was illuminated with light. He moved over to his bags and began to undress, but stopped when he heard something moving on his bed. He turned around and groaned inwardly, there was a young German redhead on his bed with nothing on, but a shy smile. She waved at him, saying hello.

'Asuka, stop this' Kaji said, she always tried to get him to do things with her that could get him arrested and beaten to death just for it looking like he might've done it.

Her eyes looked a little hurt, but she crept closer to him, still smiling.

'You know that you are way too young for me, now get off the bed and go to your room. We meet up with the Third Child tomorrow, so I suggest you get some rest' Kaji said, inching back from the girl, he didn't want to hurt her feelings, but she really drove him mad with her tempting.

Her eyes looked at him pleadingly. She pointed to herself and her hand then fell onto her chest near her heart and tapped twice. The redheaded girl then pointed to Kaji, who took a deep breath at this sight.

'Sorry Asuka, but I don't feel about you that way; we have been over this' Kaji said, crushing the girls hopes.

Asuka clenched her jaw tightly, looking away, trying to keep the tears from falling. She grabbed Kaji's hand and gripped it tightly, pleading with him to say that he had just been lying and that he really did love her.

'Asuka, go now. Before the crew make their way back when their shift ends' Kaji said sternly, shaking off the girls hand.

Asuka wrapped a blanket around her naked body. She clutched it tightly as she ran out of the room, a few tears began to fall from her eyes. The tears were soon starting to stream down her face. No one loved her, no one cared.

She slammed her door shut and locked it, not wanting anyone else to hurt her like Kaji had just done. The young German fell onto her bed; curling her body into a ball, and she cried herself to sleep again…no one loved her.

[A Day later…]

'Wow!' exclaimed an excited Kensuke; the excited otaku then proceeded to go on about the ancient warship being an extraordinary tale of hope and courage, which Shinji didn't pay any attention to.

Why couldn't he just stay at home and mope, why? He could meet the pilot later, why did Misato have to drag him out onto a VTOL and then have to spend hours on a battleship? This sucks...

'We're here!' Misato exclaimed excitedly. She hoped to see Asuka again. It had been a few years and she really missed the German girl, who was a bit like she was when the purple haired woman was that age.

The four left the VTOL, the wind that was blowing almost took Toji's stupid cap off, but he was able to keep it from going with the wind.

'Thank you so much for bringing us along Misato-san' Toji said in the most grateful voice he had, making Shinji roll his eyes at his friends foolishness. Why he thought a thirty year old alcoholic woman would go for a fourteen year old boy like him was beyond Shinji, then again, Toji didn't know Misato like he did...actually, that was a good thing.

'Yeah, this is awesome!' Kensuke agreed with his friend, his camera recording every intricate detail of the ship.

'So…where is the pilot Misato?' Shinji asked, hoping to get the conversation away from his two friends' clumsy come on's.

Misato grinned and said, 'Right behind you'

'Yah!' shouted Shinji, as he looked behind him and spotted someone staring at him.

The person smirked at Shinji's reaction and placed a hand on her hip.

'Hey there Asuka, you look well' Misato said.

Asuka smiled and nodded at Misato, not saying a word. She then wordlessly flaunted her curves and…chest area, making Shinji go slightly red in the face.

'You sure have Asuka' Misato agreed, the German had grown quite a bit.

'Uh, hello can you talk or you just not talk to strangers?' Toji asked, a bit more rudely than he intended.

The girl narrowed her eyes, which flashed with anger at the jock, making him gulp a bit.

During all this Shinji couldn't take his eyes off the girl. She wore a pair of jeans and a jacket, but they didn't really hide her figure. Her hair was a wonderful shade of red and her eyes where an azure colour, a much nicer shade of blue when compared to his own grey-blue eyes.

The mute girl stabbed her finger at Toji, looking at Misato.

'Nope, the one you scared before is the Third Child' the well endowed woman explained, seemingly having no trouble at deciphering what Asuka was "saying".

'Um, hello' Shinji said meekly, as the girl looked him over with a raised brow. She shrugged her shoulders and held out her hand, a western greeting.

Shinji weakly shook her hand, blushing at the close contact with a member of the opposite sex, a very beautiful member of the opposite sex.

'I-I'm Shinji, the Third Child' he explained forgetting the fact that Misato had already introduced him. The girl grinned mischievously at him, like she knew why he was so flustered (which was rather obvious) and she enjoyed the effect she was having on him, it was a nice change from last nights debacle.

'Ah, Katsuragi, what a surprise!' exclaimed a voice, which belonged to a man with a ponytail and an unshaven face.

'Oh God no…' whispered a horrified Misato, what was he doing here?

Asuka stopped her grinning as soon as Misato's old flame appeared. She didn't want to be near Kaji at this moment, so she decided to drag Shinji off to show the timid boy her Eva, the startled boy did not dare to ask the redheaded girl if she could be a little gentler when she dragged him.

'Lucky' Toji said, shaking his head in disbelief. Shinji just acts stupid and a hot foreign girl drags him off, how does he do it?

Kensuke didn't answer him or add his own input, he had been too busy filming the ships battlements to even notice the German pilot that had dragged Shinji off.

[Unit-02 storage bay…]

With a prideful grin and pose, Asuka presented her Eva to the Third child, waiting for his gasp of amazement and praise.

Shinji shifted uncomfortably, he wasn't sure how to act around girls, especially around one that didn't talk, 'uh, um…'

Asuka's shoulders slumped and she frowned; this boy wasn't really the best talker, then again she wasn't either. She would have to try a different approach to get the boy to give her some much needed compliments, but what?

Shinji watched the girl, taking a gulp to try and ease his nerves. Why was a good looking girl like her so interested in his opinion? Oh right, he was an Eva pilot, that's the reason it had nothing to do with him. That thought made Shinji feel a bit down, ignorance was bliss.

'…y-your Eva, um, has a nicer colour than mine. My ones mostly purple…' Shinji offered his compliment, fumbling with his words.

The girl raised an eyebrow at his rather weak praise, but soon had a warm smile growing on her face, it was a start at least.

[Chapter 1: end]

Well...here's another story. Hope you guys like it. I'll only know if I get reviews (hint, hint). As always, ideas are welcome and encouraged. Til next time!


	2. Chapter 2

**A Different way of talking**

Wow. Holy fudge! 9 reviews in one night! Well, I am glad that the story was so well received; I was actually worried that it might be shot down, so thanks to: readerjunkie, TatsuDragonKing, greyon13, Incognito girl, Gamelos, Fraulein Kaname Langley, Aincalandorn, eastWolf and keyblade1984 for your reviews, and thanks to all those who put favourites and alerts!

**Chapter 2: Misunderstanding…**

Shinji smiled on his way back to Misato's apartment with the groceries he had just purchased. He knew it should feel wrong, but he had actually enjoyed the last Angel battle. Okay, maybe not the fact that his life had been in peril and the world was counting on him to prevent worldwide devastation, but…piloting an Eva with the Second Child, Asuka, was the best thing to ever happen to him.

She was really…well, unique. He had never met anyone like her…and he secretly hoped to see her again. She was really interesting, although, maybe a little violent too.

[Flashback, just over a week ago…]

'A-alarms! Is it an Angel attack?' asked a concerned Shinji.

Asuka looked at him with a small grin of excitement at the thought of her first fight and nodded. Shinji gulped and tried to think what they could do to stop it, but Asuka had already decided on the best course of action. Grabbing the indecisive boy, she dragged him to the storage containers that held her plug suits and nerve clips.

'Where are we going?' Shinji asked, but of course he received no reply, leaving him puzzled.

Asuka stopped dragging him and opened the containers retrieving two plug suits and four A-10 nerve clips. She handed one suit and a pair of clips to Shinji, who looked at the tight and feminine suit with horrified eyes, 'y-you want me to-to…'

Asuka nodded in reply, making Shinji grimace, 'b-but it'll be too tight in um…uh, w-well you know'

Asuka blushed slightly and punched his arm, hoping he got the message to not be so perverted at times like this. She stabbed a finger at the suit and then at the boy, telling him wordlessly to put it on or else.

Shinji received the message, mostly. Leaving Asuka satisfied that she could now go and change in the stairwell.

The embarrassed boy put the plug suit on, not daring to pressurize it. He feared he may lose someone important to him in an agonising, crushing way if he did.

He decided that if he was finished getting dressed then Asuka was most likely dressed as well by this time, it was a logical conclusion. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the wrong one.

Shinji opened the door to the stairwell and popped his head around the corner, 'Soryu-san, are you…'

Shinji had several seconds to take in Asuka's naked back before having the door swing into him, painfully forcing him to back out of the room by the power of an embarrassed redheads kick.

Asuka's face blushed a deep crimson at the boy's intrusion; at least he didn't see anything. She quickly finished putting the suit on, knowing the perverted boy would probably try to peek again. She pressurized it, and then grimaced when she remembered that the plug suit didn't actually hide anything. His perverted mind would have a field day with this.

She yanked the door open and pulled the boy, who was spouting out as many apologies as he could, silly pervert. Asuka stopped walking when she noticed that Shinji hadn't pressurized the suit, and her mouth turned into a cruel smile. She could get the boy back for not knocking before entering.

Shinji was too busy apologising for not knocking before entering that he never noticed the Germans hand on the suits pressure button, well, he did notice it after the suit pressurized.

'ARRGH!' he screamed in pain as certain parts of his male body were...in an undesirable place.

A bit later, the two teens where in Asuka's Eva, standing on top of the battleship, waiting to strike the angel.

Asuka was trying to get Shinji to think in German, but he didn't get what she was saying. She rolled her eyes and manually changed the Eva's language setting to Japanese.

The two did their best against the seaborne Angel and struggled to keep its mouth from crushing the crimson titan, while simultaneously trying to stab its core with enough force to kill it. Shinji had been controlling the left arm, keeping the Angels mouth open, while Asuka was using the right arm to push the prog knife further into the Angels core, but with one hand it was proving difficult. Shinji noticed that Asuka was having trouble, so he reached out to help her control.

Asuka blushed when she felt Shinji's hand on hers, as he helped her focus on ending the Angel.

[End of Flashback]

Shinji was so deep in thought that he never noticed the piles of boxes on the outside of the apartment, until he entered it.

'Hey Misato I…huh?' Shinji looked around the apartment in confusion. Boxes of…stuff were everywhere, and none of them indicated their origin.

'Misato, are you moving or something?' Shinji asked, not sure what to think.

He opened one of the boxes and his face went red, his nose nearly gushed blood. There was a lot of underwear in there…and it wasn't Misato's, but it was definitely female.

Shinji stared at the contents in disbelief and wonder, but a tap on his shoulder made him slam the box shut and spin around to face…Asuka?

'Uh, um…hello Soryu-san, I was…I was' Shinji couldn't think of an excuse under the gaze of the redheaded German, who was looking at him disapprovingly and angrily.

'I'm sorry, I was just curious, I didn't know you where here, I swear!' Shinji said, hoping she wouldn't kill him.

Asuka rolled her eyes at the timid boys excuse, it sounded logical, but still you could never be sure. She punched him on the arm, hoping he remembered the previous time and took the warning properly.

'S-sorry…' Shinji said, rubbing his arm. If he continued to get punched by Asuka he would have to get his arm removed soon due to extensive damage.

She shrugged her shoulders and led him to where his room was.

'Oh…are you staying here now?' Shinji asked quietly, his eyes showing his disappointment in being kicked out the house. Then again, Misato had said that Asuka was really smart and had trained to be an Eva pilot for a long time, since she was four years old, so it was only natural that they would prioritise her over him. Although, it still hurt.

Asuka caught Shinji's sad tone and expression, and she quickly pointed to the centre of the room where a foldout wall lay on the floor.

Shinji looked at it in puzzlement. He was too busy moping to understand what she was trying to get him to understand.

Asuka rolled her eyes again and snapped her fingers in front of his face. She smirked when she realised she had his attention and slowly showed Shinji what she had tried to get him to understand before, by using her hands this time.

'…the room is going to be split up?' Shinji asked after several minutes of deciphering.

Asuka nodded, her hands were tired from the signals. This boy was really slow, but at least he did try to understand her. Not many had done that for her during college and she was, although she wouldn't admit it just yet, touched by his attempts to understand. Maybe somebody did care…

[Two hours later…]

Shinji had helped Asuka move her stuff in, after he had set the wall up, which was a difficult task. Now he was busy making dinner, while Asuka sat and watched TV.

As he worked his incredible skills in the kitchen, his mind wondered onto his newfound favourite topic, the mute German. She was strange and maybe a bit violent if he did something stupid, but…she must also think about others, since she had obviously tried to set up the divider in the room before he got back home. Although, he also wondered why she brought so much stuff with her, she barely had a quarter of what she brought in her room. Anyway, she was a really interesting person.

His eyes widened slightly in surpirse, as he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned to once again face Asuka, 'uh, y-yes Soryu-san?'

She tapped her wrist and then pointed to the cooking food.

'…how long is it going to take? Erm, well, a few more minutes I guess' Shinji said, 'I didn't really know what to make, so if you don't like just tell…I mean, uh…inform me'

Asuka lifted the pot's lid and smelt the food; she flashed a smile and nodded to Shinji, saying that it was alright. Shinji returned to his cooking beaming with pride at the praise, Misato's praise had been nice, but for some reason getting Asuka's was a lot more rewarding…

A short while later the two where seated at the table eating the food Shinji had prepared. Well, one of them was anyway. While Asuka devoured the expertly made food, Shinji just twiddled his chop sticks, feeling uncomfortable with the situation.

Here he was sitting across from a girl he had only met a week ago and now he was sitting at the same table as her with a plate of food in front of him and he was completely and utterly unsure of how to act. He didn't know if he should start a conversation or if he should just eat. Shinji decided the second option was the best since she didn't speak, although, now that Shinji thought about it, he didn't actually know why she didn't speak. Maybe he should ask her.

As that thought entered his mind he shook his head, feeling stupid. Asking a mute person why they didn't speak, honestly. He started to eat his food. Berating his stupidity in his mind, a tap on the table made him change his focus from his food to the German girl.

'Y-yes, Soryu-san?' Shinji asked, wondering what the girl wanted, he hoped he hadn't done anything visibly stupid in front of her again.

She pointed to one of the other seats and shrugged her shoulders, asking him something.

'Misato?' he thought out loud, receiving a nod as a reply he continued with what he thought she was asking, 'I guess she's still at NERV, she usually gets a lot of paperwork after an Angel battle'

Asuka nodded again, she got up from her seat and picked up her plate, preparing to put her dishes in the sink.

'I-I'll do it, don't worry' Shinji said, getting up from his seat to take the plates.

The mute German held a hand out and put him back down on his seat. Pointing at his food, 'y-you want me to finish?'

The girl smirked and nodded, she then moved to put her dishes in the sink. She was about to make her way back to the couch to recline, but she stopped, seemingly deep in thought. She should thank Shinji for helping her, he was being really nice, but she knew he probably wouldn't understand her if she shook his hand or did something else to show her thanks, he was a bit dense at times.

'Um, are you okay?' Shinji asked, getting up to see if Asuka was alright.

He was puzzled when he heard a soft sigh escape her lips, but this puzzlement was soon replaced with surprise when the German girl gave him a quick hug, a thank you in Asuka's way of "speaking". She let go rather quickly, feeling embarrased at having to go to such a great length to get the baka to understand that she was happy for his help, she felt like hitting him for making her do that, but that would probably make him even more confused, so she decided to just leave it at the hug, she could get him back for it later. She made her way to the TV, blushing a light pink. Shinji remained frozen in place, not quite able to understand that he had just been hugged by the mute German as a way of thanks.

Eventually his mind had restarted, making his face go red. He thanked the Lord that Misato had not seen that, otherwise he would never hear the end of it.

'I see you two are getting along fine' a voice that amazingly sounded like a smirk said.

Shinji sighed and hung his head in disappointment, not needing to turn around to know that Misato was there and had most definitely seen the hug. Why did these embarrasing things always happen to him?

-Chapter 2 End-

Hmm, not too sure how this chapter will be taken, if it was bad then please say so and I will fix it, this is a learning experience. As always ideas, questions and such are encouraged and can be sent by way of review or pm.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Different way of talking**

This is pretty impressive I know, but we are having flash floods here in South Africa where I stay, so I got time on my hands for writing, its a bit too cold for swimming anyway...

Thanks to: readerjunkie, TatsuDragonKing, greyon13, Incognito girl, Gamelos, Fraulein Kaname Langley, Aincalandorn, eastWolf, keyblade1984, Vorpal Apple [how is 2 updates in one day for you? Heh-heh] and SulliMike23 for your reviews, and thanks again to all those who put favourites and alerts!

To Aincalandorn: I have no idea why I use single quotes, I just do.

**Chapter 3: School…**

'So…what did you do to deserve that hug last night, Shinji-kun?' Misato asked; a cruel smile was on her face at Shinji's expense.

Shinji groaned, it was early in the morning and he really didn't want to have to deal with Misato's teasing at this time of the day, besides he had school soon, 'I don't know Misato, all I did was help her move in and make food that's all!'

'Aw, you really don't know do you?' Misato asked, 'she was thanking you.'

'…she was?' Shinji asked in confusion, if she wanted to thank him then why didn't she just say so? Oh right, she can't talk.

'Yup, though just between you and me' she leaned in closer to Shinji, exposing some more of her assets, making Shinji blush, 'she doesn't usually take too well to new people, so don't do anything stupid, 'kay?'

'Um…okay?' Shinji replied, why didn't Asuka take meeting new people too well? Did it have something to do with her not talking or was it something else?

A tap on the bathroom door made the two conversing people turn to see Asuka leaving the bathroom, after her shower. Shinji went the same colour as the towel Asuka was wearing, when he noticed that was all she had on and the towel showed off her figure very well.

'Morning Asuka, have a nice rest?' Misato asked the quiet German, who nodded her head.

'Um, m-morning Asuka' Shinji greeted her, trying to avoid looking at the, in his opinion, barely covered girl.

'So Asuka, ready for your first day at school?' the captain asked enthusiastically.

Asuka rolled her eyes in annoyance, she really didn't want to have to go school; she had a degree anyway that should be enough, shouldn't it? But Misato had asked nicely, besides she couldn't really hang around the apartment all day, she'd get bored.

The German girl went to room to get her school clothes on; which she suspected had been designed by someone with a school girl fetish.

'B-but I thought Asuka went to college already, didn't she?' Shinji asked. Why would someone need to go to high school if they had already been through college?

'She did, but since you have already revealed to your classmates that you and Rei are pilots we need to project a good image that we at NERV believe in our pilots living normal lives when they aren't trying to save the world' Misato explained, then with grin she added, 'don't let Asuka find out though…'

Shinji gulped at the ramifications of Asuka finding out why she had to be at school. If she only punched him on the shoulder when he looked at her at the wrong time…what would she do if she found out that he was partly the cause of her having to go to school? The raven haired boy shivered, trying to not dwell on that disturbing thought.

His mind then clicked on the fact that, if Asuka was going to school with him he'd better pack some lunch in a bento for her as well. He doubted she wanted to spend a day at school hungry.

[A few minutes later…]

Asuka and Shinji walked down the street, making their way to the Tokyo-3 Municipal High School. Asuka was taking note of the directions and places that they passed on their way to the school, just in case she wanted to have a look around town after school, while Shinji was wondering what to do in this alien situation.

He was really uncomfortable in this situation since he still didn't really know how to act around the redhead. He didn't want to do or say something stupid and hurt her feelings or anything like that, best he just kept quiet. Shinji let go a sigh, a bit louder than he intended as it caught Asuka's attention.

Asuka looked at Shinji, her expression showing that she wanted to know what the sigh was about.

'Uh, I was…I just forgot to give you your bento' Shinji quickly retrieved the lunch box from his bag, and handed it to Asuka.

The mute girl took it gingerly, the idiot. Now she had to thank him again. Asuka put the bento into her bag and fidgeted with her skirt a bit. She wondered why Shinji was so nice to her, not many people had been nice to her when they found out that she didn't want to speak, not that she needed them of course, but still...

'H-here we are' Shinji said, snapping Asuka out of her thoughts.

She looked at the boring building in dismay, cringing inwardly. She knew that teenagers were especially unkind to people who did things out of the norm, but she would be strong anyway. They'd leave her alone after she had hit them a couple of times.

Asuka looked at Shinji, who fidgeted under her gaze; she was asking him where they need to go next.

'I guess you need to tell Hikari that you're here…' Shinji explained.

Asuka shrugged her shoulders, showing her boredom and signalled for Shinji to lead the way.

The two found the class representative after a few moments of searching.

'Hello Ikari-san, who is this?' Hikari asked with a happy smile. She thought that Shinji had gone and found himself someone and that she had moved to this school so that they could spend more time with each other, which she immediately thought was really cute.

'This is Asuka, she's the Second Child, a pilot…' Shinji explained.

'Hello Asuka, nice to meet you, where are you from?' Hikari asked, after bowing to the girl, who returned the bow, but said nothing else.

'Er, she's from Germany' Shinji said, answering Hikari's question.

'Oh, okay' Hikari said slowly, why wasn't Asuka speaking?

'S-so, is that all you need, Horaki-san?' Shinji asked, feeling uncomfortable with being Asuka's "representative".

'Yeah, but can I talk to you for a second?' Hikari asked.

Shinji stepped to the side with Hikari, feeling even more uncomfortable.

'Why don't you let her speak?' Hikari asked in a hushed voice.

'S-she doesn't speak, so I-I was just trying to help…' Shinji explained.

'She doesn't?' Hikari repeated.

'No, she just uses hand signals and stuff like that…' and hugs, he added mentally, making him regret the addition because he was pretty sure he was blushing again.

'Hmm, okay well, I'll show her around school then' Hikari proclaimed, 'hey, Asuka? You want me to show you around the school?'

Asuka stole a very quick glance at Shinji; that went unnoticed to the boy, and then returned her gaze to the class representative and nodded.

Shinji watched the two girls leave, relaxing a bit. He didn't mind helping Asuka but he was just worried he might do something offensive and get hit by her.

He then made his way back to class, on his way he was met by his new friends.

'Aw man, I was hoping you'd be wearing that lovely red outfit, Shin-man!' Toji exclaimed with a chuckle at his friend's expense.

'I-I didn't have a choice Toji!' Shinji defended himself, his face starting to go the same colour as Asuka's suit was, this was happening to him a lot now days.

'Yeah, yeah, the stuck up redhead put you up to it, huh?' Toji said, with good humour.

'She's not stuck up' Shinji said, with a hint of anger in his tone.

'…uh, sorry Shinji, I was just joking around' Toji explained, he was surprised by Shinji's sudden, outspoken courage and somewhat proud of it.

An uncomfortable silence ensued, but thankfully Kensuke filled the lack of sound, 'wow, Misato is really cool. Letting us tag along on one of the most famous battleships of our time and we got to see the Second Evangelion in action!'

'Don't forget, Shinji in woman's clothing!' Toji added.

'Ugh, guys!' Shinji cried out in dismay. This was getting worse than Misato's teasing.

[Meanwhile, in the school building…]

'And this is our classroom, number 2-A' Hikari said, presenting the class to the mute German girl, '…so, what do you think?'

Asuka merely shrugged her shoulders and let a sigh escape her lips. This was really something she was not looking forward to, but at least Hikari was nice.

'…you really don't want to be here, do you Asuka?' Hikari asked, as she noticed the bored expression on the redheads face.

Asuka shook her head; she really didn't want to be here. She took a seat at one of the desks, and rapped her fingers on the desk with a bored expression on her face.

'Well, sorry, but I can't really do much about that' Hikari said softly, taking a seat next to her.

Asuka looked unsure of something, like she had something bothering her, so being inquisitive Hikari decided to ask the mute girl what was troubling her.

'What's bothering you Asuka?' Hikari asked, looking at the distracted redhead with concern.

Asuka looked at Hikari, blinking a few times. Very few people had bothered to ask her that question, since they wouldn't get their answer the way they wanted it. As always Asuka said nothing, but she smiled at Hikari and shook her head, indicating that nothing was wrong. Maybe school wasn't so bad.

[During class]

Asuka seethed in her seat. School was worse. All the boys were perverts; the teacher was boring, terribly boring and when she got up and nicely wrote her name on the black board to introduce herself, everyone wanted her to voice her hello, like a wave wasn't enough.

At least Hikari helped, she was pretty good at her job as Class Representative, maybe a little too good. Anyway, Asuka continued to grumble in her mind about the perverts and the old, boring, hentai teacher.

She then remembered something that lit up her spirits a bit. The first child went to this school too; maybe she could ask Shinji to introduce her.

'Hey Shinji' Toji called out in a hushed voice.

'Yeah?' Shinji replied, happy that he could escape the boredom of another lecture on Second Impact.

'You find out why she doesn't talk?' Toji asked, it had been bugging him for a while since the German hadn't spoken to them on the ship or at school.

'I don't know why, she just doesn't' Shinji said, his voice sounding a bit defensive.

'Sheesh calm down, Shin-man, just a question, there isn't something going on between you two is there?' the jock asked with a grin.

'NO!' Shinji shouted hastily, a bit louder than he intended.

Everyone either woke up or turned to face the source of the noise, most were surprised that the source was Shinji Ikari, the quiet Eva pilot.

'Ikari, you have clean up duty after school!' Hikari hissed, she couldn't believe Shinji would be one to disrupt class like that, he was usually so withdrawn.

Shinji hung his head and groaned, why me?

-Chapter 3 End-

Another chapter done, hope it was up to standard and I hope you guys enjoyed it. Weathers going in its usual South African way, torrential rain for an hour, partly cloudy, then thunderstorm. Oh well, til next time and please do review, I like to know if it was good and ideas are always welcome (you can pm me if you want as well).


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